Summer is almost here, and some photos taken today have exposed why the WFH debate in Australia is just heating up.
The weather is heating up, and Aussies have been heading down to the beach armed with their laptops, which has one Aussie boss shaking her head.
It seems like every summer, there’s more concern about working from home, and people’s liberal use of the word “home”.
Last year, the internet went into a frenzy when two women were seen on their laptops at Bondi Beach.
It remains unclear if they were actually working from home or just had their laptops at the beach.
One Aussie said people working from the beach need to “grow up”, and another claimed they couldn’t think of a “worse” place to work.
On Tuesday, less than a year since the photo kicked off the debate, multiple Aussies were seen enjoying the sun on Coogee Beach on their laptops during working hours.
The laptop beach photos have come early this year, as it is only spring, but the argument is still raging.
Working from home has somehow become even more of a hot topic in 2025; some employees swear it increases productivity, but some bosses fear people are just taking the piss.
Recruitment expert Roxanne Calder isn’t too impressed with the idea of anyone taking the liberty to work from the beach.
Does she think you can productively work from the beach?
“No,” she said.
“If you’re doing something that involves confidentiality, who is seeing your laptop?”
She added that she thinks the only person who can productively work from the beach is a lifeguard.
The workplace expert went as far to argue that there’s never a good reason to go to the beach during working hours.
“Why are you at the beach? Because you want to go for a swim! You are not there just to work,” she said.
Ms Calder said that she feels the same about people working from any “public domain” because she claims there is not enough privacy to do your job.
The recruitment boss also flagged concerns that workers shouldn’t be so eager to go out and about with valuable work equipment.
“If I took my laptop and lost it that would be a disaster because everything is on there,” she said.
Ms Calder isn’t surprised that Aussies are heading outdoors with their laptops because she explained that once the weather warms up Aussies want to enjoy it.
“It gets harder to get workers into the office,” she said.
Ms Calder said she’s even heard of workers not attending meetings and then suddenly in the next meeting turn up sporting a suntan.
She’s also heard of workers going AWOL when they’ve gone off to a conference if the location is tropical.
Ms Calder argued that people working from the beach isn’t a shock because workers are confused about what they are allowed to do when working from home.
She said there are “blurred lines” around what working from home is, and whether it is an entitlement or a perk.
Ms Calder said that at the end of 2024, we saw a huge increase in companies issuing strict return-to-office mandates with many requiring staff to be in the office five days a week by 2025.
Among the businesses that have issued these types of orders are Amazon, JPMorgan, Chase, TABCORP and Dell.
Meanwhile, the Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced in August plans to try to introduce legislation to protect WFH rights.
Under the new law, if you can responsibly do your job form home, you will have the right to do so, at least two days a week.
Ms Calder said it has all become confusing and workers can’t be fairly expected to understand what the boundaries are these days.
“There’s mass confusion,” she said.
The workplace expert argued we have to get back to basics and start asking, “What is good for the business?” Not just what is good for workers.
At the moment, Ms Calder said she’s mostly just hearing from bosses who want their workers back in the office because of “productivity” issues and workers not being “accountable and responsible” when working from home.
As Founder and Managing Director at EST10, Roxanne has an all-encompassing role that includes building and growing the business, as well as actively recruiting and consulting.
After completing a Bachelor’s Degree at Monash University, Roxanne began her recruitment career with renowned recruiter Julia Ross. From there, Roxanne worked in HR and recruitment with a number of global players and boutique businesses throughout Australia, the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong for over 20 years. She has been responsible for managing large teams and projects, implementing RPO models, managing and assisting businesses to an IPO and assisting companies in setting up their recruitment teams and processes.
Following completion of her MBA at the Australian Graduate School of Management, Roxanne launched EST10 in July 2010. In doing so, she hoped to combine the flexibility and high touch service levels of boutique agencies with the structure and strategy afforded to larger firms. Roxanne believes in high-touch, high-care consulting and is always on the lookout for consultants that share this vision of recruitment.
